


Banal nadas

by shikasori



Series: Inquisitor Mýlion [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Brothers, Gen, Twins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-29
Updated: 2018-03-21
Packaged: 2018-05-23 20:00:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,940
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6128444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shikasori/pseuds/shikasori
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Several stories and ficlets about my elven mage Inquisitor Mýlion. </p><p>He introduces himself and pronounces his name as "my-lee-on" like "my" as in "mine", "lee" as in... "lee" and "on" as in, well, "on" however his nickname is Leo like the star sign and many call him that once they have known him long enough or when he tells them "you <i>can</i> call me Leo, yknow?".</p><p>This, at the moment, is just going to be me writing at my own pace as I do have a job which keeps me active during the day which means I'm tired during the evenings and I'm pretty lazy so I'm less likely to write during that time.</p><p>Leo's appearance (a poor photo quality, I know!):<br/><img/><br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Two of a Kind

**Author's Note:**

> \--EDITED: 21/03/18 ; minor story changes and grammar/spelling checks--
> 
> So as you can see; it's white and ruly. His vallaslin is a blue colour and based on Falon'Din (there is reason for this) and he got them on his 18th birthday. I imagine him to be 5 feet and 5 inches tall and as it stands I see him as a 25 year old man. He has the British Inquisitor's voice. His eyes are like a bright crystal blue with an even brighter baby blue in the centre. His skin is pale and his lips look the faintest blue colour as well, sometimes you can see it and sometimes you think you're crazy.
> 
> * * *
> 
> Translations:  
> "Banal nadas" - "nothing is inevitable", very similar to "telanadas"  
> "Vallaslin" - blood writing  
> "Falon'Din" - elven god of death and fortune, guides spirits to the beyond, twin brother to Dirthamen  
> "Dirthamen" - elven god of knowledge and secrets  
> 
> 
> * * *
> 
> HD Map of Thedas:  
> http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120816012340/dragonage/images/9/96/ThedasPoliticalMap.jpg
> 
> * * *

Mýlion “Leo” was born second to his twin Theodwin “Theo” in early Verimensis in 9:16 Dragon on a Tuesday. Fereldan and Orlais were still at war but there were whispers on the winds that a potential truce was in the cards for the future.

In the West Hills, there was a freshly fallen but largely anticipated snow. It seemed to let up just as the first cries of a newborn elf reached the ears of the clan members eagerly waiting to meet the arrival. Shortly after the first, cries of another newborn echoed around the aravels. There were smiles all around, two births was unexpected but welcomed with open hearts. The smiles didn’t last. 

The mother; her sighs of relief twisted into screams of anguish, pain. After a lot of unmanageable blood loss the mother departed from the world, so the Keeper sent her soul to the Beyond. Hesitantly, he blessed the two new elves in his clan. 

For weeks, no one knew quite how to feel. Over-joyed? How could one feel over-joyed when one of the elvhen, one of the best of the people, had passed on? No one had expected it and that's why it came as an even bigger shock to the clan.

The decision to move on from the Coastlands and into the Bannorn was a demanding one which the clan had mixed votes on. The newborns were barely a month old when the Keeper decided it was best for clan to move on.

The father, who had been doing a makeshift yet remarkable job of raising the twins on his own, was entirely against the idea of moving to the middle of Fereldan. There were a few whispers around the campfire that if he didn't get his way then he would simply take the children and leave with them in his arms but that wasn't the case. The clan needed to stick together and he needed them now more than ever. And they did help, they couldn’t just let the man suffer with the burden on his own. 

It didn’t take long to travel to the Bannorn and they were mostly accepted there by the humans. Of course the normal slurs were hurled at their direction whenever a caravan of shem’s passed by them but they were left alone for a very long time. 

In fact, it was an extremely long time before any human had breached their camp. One young shemlen woman with a baby attached to her back in a bundle wandered through the forests. She seemed in desperate need of nourishment though it was evident she was far more concerned about the welfare of baby who was currently sound asleep. 

Her baby was a lot older than the twins and was now consuming mashed solid foods – that’s what the father and she had discussed while he helped her. He fed her and made sure her baby was fed and cleaned before she could make her way forward. She was grateful for the elf’s kindness and apologised upfront for she felt foolish, expecting aggression on-sight. He forgave her and simply explained that as a father he no longer had any time or patience for prejudices. It was all about the future of the children to which she agreed. She left after they exchanged a few more stories.

The clan soon found out he had helped a human and the aggression the woman had been expecting came a little later in the day and was directed toward the new father. He, despite having 9 week old children, was exiled from the clan for trifling with a shemlen women who could’ve easily been planning an attack on the camp.

The father knew his priorities. He needed to assure his children’s safety for the future so he made the difficult decision to move out of Fereldan entirely. If the clan didn’t want them they he would just have to find another and hope that they would be kind enough to take three of the people into safety. Even if it was only for a few days, he needed to be sure the children were healthy and since he was no mage, he needed a Keeper’s magical ability to really persuade him he was doing a fine job on his own.

And with that in mind he set off to the Free Marches with the twins, one on strapped to his back and one strapped to his front.


	2. din'anshiral

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Theo and Leo, Lavellan Twins, find themselves amongst their people. They learn who they are and what they can do and go through their early years together.

The father travelled far on his own, mindful of humans and wild animals; protecting his children and himself from harm. He was mostly left alone, pitied. He travelled by halla till he reached the Wounded Coast. By some chance, he came across the same wandering woman he had helped weeks earlier. Their roles reversed, she was in a position to return his kindness by aiding him into the Free Marches and giving him the coin she could spare.

They went their separate ways again soon after touching land and the father was alone once more.

He travelled by foot and any carriages willing to stop for him along the roads until he heard the familiar call of halla and the sounds of something he thought he’d never have again; home.

After hearing the father’s pleas, the Keeper agreed to take them in without hesitation. The father could finally rest easier and go back to being a hunter now that they had their place.

In their early years, Theo and Leo were hardly apart. Where one was the other was never far behind. Incidentally, if you were looking for one of them you usually came across the other first – that or they were together. As they grew up, they didn’t do everything together; they weren’t inseparable and they often had different sleeping patterns due to their different schedules.

Theo’s magic manifested when he was 6. He trained to later became the Keeper’s first. His true prowess made itself known around the age of eleven. There were a lot of sceptics around his rise to the role as he wasn’t born of this clan and many felt they couldn’t trust the little family for one reason or another.

However, after the twins’ father passed away when they were seven from a hunt gone wrong, the clan made their decision to trust them more concrete. They met the children when they were babes and any grievances were put to rest.

Theo showed a great aptitude for controlling the weather, more so thunder storms. He was exceptionally good at forming lightning and bending it to his will. The Keeper took note of this throughout his studies and made sure that he focused on enhancing his abilities in not only this but in spiritual ways as well. 

Learning about the fade; the spirits and demons that could be found there was knowledge that Theo knew he would need if he was going to make it through his studies. Alongside this, the Keeper started preparations to educate the older brunette boy in the written language of the elvhen, what they knew of it so far.

Leo, the younger brown haired boy, was taken in as an apprentice by the Huntmaster. He wanted to be trained in the ways of a rogue from an early age after watching his father return with his kills. Leo eventually sought to take his elder’s place so he focused all his time and effort into gaining his skills as a hunter and as a rogue. 

It was no secret that his clan traded with the human’s. Leo knew they needed excellent quality goods to be able to trade and he made sure that he was the one to obtain them. However he knew if he didn’t have the skill… then there was no point in getting in the other’s way. It was thoughts like this that drove him closer to his goal. 

The trade between the Lavellan clan and the human’s that lived around the area had always been something of an interest to Leo. He hadn’t seen many in his life but he was always curious as to how they lived in comparison to his own life with the clan. He knew the humans didn’t have clans and he knew that they didn’t travel much. Theo didn’t seem to like the human kind. He called them shem’s and that wasn’t a word the clan used lightly. 

Leo asked his brother why he held the humans in such a poor light when they barely knew them. He said his reasons were due to how they treated their mages, treated them as if they were something to be caged and locked away from childhood. After going into detail about templars, Leo decided he didn’t like the topic and wished he’d never asked.

The twins weren’t hard to spot; they could be pointed out easily in a crowd. The Keeper said it was the way they carried themselves but they never knew what she meant by that. They were only ever themselves. What was most difficult was telling the two apart. They both had brown hair and green eyes but the Keeper found their defining differences; Theo had a shed load of freckles littered across his cheeks and nose whereas Leo’s skin had no blemishes whatsoever. But even with this, the clan still manged to forget which twin had the freckles and which didn’t despite actually living in their presence since they were 15 weeks old. They were often just called “you, boy” or “you two” and that annoyed Theo.

The older they got, the more Leo realised quite a lot of things annoyed Theo. They rarely found the time to actually sit and talk and when they did it wasn’t for a long time like it used to be. Theo liked to immerse himself in his studies whereas Leo preferred to have a little fun during the free time he had. The Keeper found herself wishing it were the opposite way around, for Theo’s sake. 

That was something he would come to learn in time.


	3. Just a little longer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Theo finds himself unable to say no.

9:28 Dragon, it was a cloudy and breezy day when Leo managed to convince the Keeper and the Huntmaster to let himself and Theo both have the afternoon off together. Leo made a risky promise with the Keeper on Theo’s behalf that he would try twice as hard to translate an old tapestry and dared that he would have it done by the same time the next day.

Theo was not pleased when he learned of this promise.

A hour or two into their afternoon together, Leo had climbed a tree to get some perspective of the area around them. Theo climbed in in a much less graceful fashion, complaining all the way. He had with him a book about the Tevinter Imperium and how they supposedly created the Blight he had heard about. Leo begged the Huntsmaster to trade for a book he could give to his brother for their 13th birthday which was two weeks ago. Theo had already started it.

Leo nudged the outside of his thigh with the tip of his boot, asking him to read aloud to break the silence. Theo was almost a third of the way through when his brother burst his personal space bubble so suddenly.

“Enough of that- let’s do something fun. We never do anything fun anymore” Theo could tell Leo would beg and whilst he would love to see that, he agreed.

“I know but it’s not like it’s for no reason. We’re both busy. I do my own thing” he gestured by waving his book around “and you do yours” he gestured with his free hand to the bow that was balancing on the branch an arm’s length away.

“But don’t you think we do… too much? Maybe sometimes? I mean, I constantly have to hear the old geezer mumbling about his lost youth, I don’t want to end up like that” Leo scoffed as he started picking at the bark beneath him, the potential reality was all too real.

“Don’t let the Huntmaster actually hear you say that” Theo rolled his eyes but he couldn’t help the smirk on his face as he remembered hearing such mumblings before they left for their little getaway. He closed his book after folding down the corner of the page he stopped on. “Let’s just go for a walk then?” he suggested and turned on the branch so his legs were swinging off the edge.

Leo grinned and made his way down the tree, strapping his bow and holster to himself on the way. He laughed from below and watched as his brother took the hard way down. He paid for it by receiving a smack on the shoulder when he didn’t expect it.

They walked for half an hour and found grassy trail. Leo wasn’t sure if it was known to the clan. From the training he’d received so far on tracking, it didn’t look like anything except nugs and other woodland creatures used this trail. With some convincing from Leo, they continued on.

When they came to a fork in the trail, Theo sighed “I guess this means we head back now.” He said and adjusted his clothes to turn back.

“What? No! Come on!” Leo tugged at his brother’s sleeve “let’s just go and explore!” Leo protested, his arms out stretched in the direction of a very wooded area.

Theo shook his head “I don’t think we should go too far away from the clan, Leo. It could be dangerous—“

“So? You’re a mage and I’m a rogue, we can walk through some trees Theo, trees aren’t going to hurt us--” he rolled his eyes as he was cut off.

“Unless there are Sylvans. In which case, yes, the trees would hurt us. We’re not fully fledged, you said it earlier we’re still children” Theo interjected. “We’re already further than we should be, if the Keeper knew—“

“Well she’s not here, is she? This is sort of the whole point of this little adventure, which you’re ruining right now” Leo huffed and began kicking the ground beneath his feet, a frown on his face.

“Mýlion…” Theo sighed heavily, brushing a hand through his hair “we need to go home before it starts getting darker”. Before he could register, Leo snatched the book from his satchel and ran into the wooded area which looked a lot dark than it did before, and he had the audacity to laugh as he ran. “Creators- I can’t believe you!” Theo exclaimed in frustrated as he ran after him.

He found Leo a few strides ahead behind some long vines that acted as a curtain. And behind the curtain was the most beautiful thing he’d ever laid eyes on. Theo stood next to Leo on the ledge they were standing on in awe as they looked over a gorgeous waterfall before their eyes. The current was moving fast but still cascaded down in a way that made it seem harmless, welcoming.

Leo bumped his shoulder against his older brother’s and handed the book back over to him “Let’s just stay for a little longer… please?” he turned to face him, a genuine smile which Theo always cursed because he could never say no.

“Fine… but when it starts getting really really dark, then we have to go back. Deal?” his brows raised and hand out waiting for a hand shake to seal the deal.

“Deal” Leo shook the outstretched hand and then pushed him playfully “come on!”.

The edge they were stood on and the edge of the waterfall was only a hop, skip and a few more skip’s away. Leo fearlessly climbed up some unsteady rocks that shifted in the rock wall.

Theo could see his plan; climb up the rocks to the higher ledge and drop down to the waterfall ledge. Why he even created a deal was beyond him now but he did admit to himself that the view from the edge would be incredible and so he took the opportunity and followed Leo up and around.


	4. A cool breeze

Initially, Theo was not so sure about the idea of playing in the water near the edge of the waterfall but the more fun he had with his brother, the more his tensions eased and soon enough they were messing around just like they used to.

They splashed each other back and forth for a while until Theo took a step further when he wrestled his little brother to the ground and into the shallow area of the river. They tussled and soaked each other through and through till they were more than dripping.

A sudden cold breeze blew through the trees and both the boys stopped to shiver and clutch their arms. They chuckled amongst themselves and then stood up and wiped their hair back off each other’s faces.

“I just want to take one last look at the view before we go, ‘kay?” Leo smiled, now vigorously rubbing up and down his chest to keep himself warm. He walked carefully to the edge, stepping in between the rocks and stones in the rivers path. Theo cautiously followed suit. The speed of the water seemed to have calmed and with the sun disappearing the sky was lit up with hues of orange and pink, signalling a beautiful dusk.

They sat on the edge, legs dangling down, the sides of their bodies pressed together to keep warm. “I wish we could do this every day” Leo smiled to himself, eyes closed and head tilted up towards the sky.

Theo examined his face and smiled in return; it had been a long time since he’d seen his brother this happy, truly happy. “We’ll make more time for each other” he swivelled around so he was facing him head on. He held out his enclosed fist, his little finger extended out “promise?”

Leo opened his eyes and looked down at his brother’s little finger. He hooked his own little finger around Theo’s and they squeezed them together “promise”.

They grinned to each other and then stood up simultaneously, brushed their hair back off their faces again. “The Keeper is so going to turn us into mush when she sees us like this” Theo sighed as he looked down over himself “I haven’t practiced fire at all yet, I can’t dry us off” he whined and then looked up at Leo who just shrugged.

“So we’ll change our clothes and warm up by the fire when we get back. We’ll say we fell in water by accident” Leo smirked, conjuring up more lies in his head to prove their “innocence”.

“Oh sure! Let’s just lie to the Keeper, it’s not like she’ll see through us at all” Theo rolled his eyes and stepped back to turned around.

Panic washed over him as he felt no ground beneath his foot. Time seemed to slow as he lost his balance, the air rushing out of his lungs in a loud gasp in an automatic response. “Leo!—“ his arms flailing, he reached out for his brother who wasn’t paying attention, already a few steps away.

“W- Theo! NO!” Leo rushed over and managed to catch his sleeve but the rocks at the edge gave way underneath his boots and with the weight of his own body plus his brother who was already falling, he fell too.

They plunged down together, screaming so loud it would surely have reached the clan’s ears. Leo, still holding onto his brother’s sleeve, felt a sudden wash of turmoil in the middle of his belly. His vision fogged over and he could see tiny icicles stuck to the edge of his eye lashes. He couldn’t concentrate, everything was so cold, a cold he’d never felt in his life.

Their screams were muted as their bodies hit the water below.

Alerted by the frantic screams in the distance, the Keeper along with the Huntmaster and a few other hunters quickly fled to the direction the screams came from. The Keeper form a ball of light which followed above them to light their way.

“Keeper Istimaethoriel, you don’t suppose?—“

“Let us hurry da’len!” the Keeper rushed to follow the hunters in front of her, fearing the worst for the two young elves out in the forest alone. ‘I should’ve said no!’ she cursed herself.

When they approached the curtain of leaves and vines, the Keeper wondered why the Hunters had stopped and edged their way backwards. They looked to the Keeper with concerned expressions and moved to make room.

She felt it now, the mana surge in the area. It made her hairs stand on end and her skin prickled with goose bumps. Something was wrong, it was far too cold. She inhaled and kneeled down to touch the frost that dusted over the dirty path.

“This is no natural frost” one of the Hunters said and exhaled into the air, watching it form a cloud of condensation. One of the hunters stepped on the grass next to the trail and it crunched as if it had been frozen overnight.  “A demon?” he suggested.

The Keeper took up and found all her clan were waiting for her. “This is the work of no demon. Theodwin…” she bit her thumb nail as she considered “…but he hasn’t manifested the cold…”

“Keeper!”

She turned to face the hunter who called her and saw he had pulled the vines back. She did not like the look on his face. She walked into the area behind the vines as they were held open for her and she immediately clutched her arms in a reaction to the sub-zero temperatures and the light that followed her blew out, darkening the area and leaving only the bright moon to light their view; a frozen waterfall.

The whole area was icy, glistening with the reflection of the light. There was hardly any colour to the area; it was all grey scale, as if everything was dead under the ice. But how could Theo do this? Where is he? “Search the area- and for all the Creator’s sakes, please be careful” she said as she formed a flame in her hand. The hunters lit the edge of one of their arrows on the magical fire and carried it with them like a torch. Despite the moon being as bright as it was, it was by no means a good enough light to start tracking. The Keeper began thawing out the area as best she could without causing too much damage but it seemed the damage had already been done by mage who cast it “oh Theodwin…”

“Keeper, I found them! They’re- Oh Creators- They’re in-“ He covered his mouth and closed his eyes, turning away from the sight before him.

“They’re in the-the river…” another hunter finished for him and she too turned away from the sight, gasping as she held in a sob.

Using a mana surge to move hastily towards the Hunter who noticed the boy’s, Istimaethoriel stopped in her tracks. Under a thick layer of ice, the twins were frozen, their faced screwed in pain and shock, air bubbles frozen around their noses.

“Quickly! One of you head back and inform the others, we need to get them out now and they need to be warm when we get there! We need blankets and towels!” the Keeper wasted no time in walking along the ice to stand above them. She placed her open palm on the ice where she could see Leo’s frozen little hand reaching for the air above the river. She couldn’t hear any movement behind her despite her orders. She stood up and turned to face them. “Perhaps you didn’t hear me?”

“Keeper… there’s no way they’re- they couldn’t have made- Keeper…” one of the Hunters stepped forward and swallowed down, keeping her eyes off of the river and solely on the Keeper.

“We’ll get them out! The Keeper turned back to the boy’s under the water “we’ll get you out” she said firmly and began using all the spells she could thaw the water. “One of you go back to the clan, now!” she ordered again and this time she heard two sets of feet rush off. The remaining hunters simply watched and hoped as she melted the ice beneath her.


	5. A Mage

The boys were eventually freed from the icy prison and pulled out into the warmth of blankets and a fire the Hunters set up in preparation. They looked for signs of life but there were none. The Keeper cried out in frustration as she tried her best to revive the twins at her feet. She fell to her hands and knees in between the two young elves and examined their faces, eyes still frozen open in shock. The Hunter’s closed their eyes with their hands and wrapped them both up in another layer of blankets.

Despite all the fire and the magic, they were still both frozen, so much so that their lips were completely blue and their skin was just a different shade of blue. They were so fragile; like porcelain that had so many cracks with one more touch it would shatter.

Four elves arrived with two stretchers made from wood and cloth and the twins were carefully moved onto them. The Keeper was helped up by a Hunter and they travelled back to the clan together, the boys carried on the stretchers.

The twins were taken into one of the aravels accompanied by the Keeper and the Herbalist. They worked tirelessly for hours to warm them. It was almost the morning when they left the aravel with heavy heads and their eyes to the ground.

“Are they…?” the Huntmaster took the Keeper by the hand. The Keeper merely shook her head with a look of sorrow the elves in the clan hadn’t seen before.

Leo’s eyes snapped open with panic and his body frantically gasped in a breath, like a new born baby breathing air outside the womb for the first time, back arching up slightly. He coughed and spluttered up water and slowly caught his breathe though it was still painful to inhale. His body was heavy but he needed to move. He found he couldn’t move his arms or legs and realised it was because he was wrapped up tightly in blankets. He felt claustrophobic. He wriggled his arms free and he raised his hand to move some hair out of his face and his eyes widened at the sight of his skin. He sat up slowly, groaning as his back ached. “No, no, no…” he mumbled to himself, trying to rub off the white that covered his hand and the blue underneath his nails. He didn’t feel cold, he wasn’t sure what he could feel besides pain.

He looked around the room he was in, it was small. He must be home. He looked to his side and his mouth opened with his lips and jaw shaking. “Th-theo?” He slid himself off the pile of blankets he was laid on and he crawled out of the rest of the blankets and over to his older brother.

“Theo?” he carefully touched his brother’s face who was ice cold to the touch, it almost felt like the skin bit his finger when he touched it. He withdrew his hand quickly and shook his brother gently “wake up” he coughed and cleared his throat, shaking Theo again “wake up…” he spoke a lot clearer now.

Outside, the clan were all huddled around the fire as they sat in silence, mourning the loss of the twins, some sharing fond memories of them and others just crying to themselves or against another. The Keeper stood, about to make a speech to comfort the clan. She opened her mouth but was interrupted by more screams, closer than before. The screams were followed by a burst of cold that swept over the clan and almost knocked the Keeper over where she stood. The fire was blown out, the trees moved and halla stirred, clearly frightened by the sudden freezing wind. The screams were then followed by sobs and cries.

The Keeper turned back to the aravel where she and the Herbalist had left the two young elves and she exclaimed “Theo-“. She and others rushed to the aravel and when she climbed inside she couldn’t believe her eyes.

The entire room was glistening, ice covered the walls and frost covered the blankets and the floor. And it was deathly cold, the same cold near the waterfall. She breathed and condensation formed in the air in front of her but she was focused on the two bodies at the back of the room so she slowly climbed inside.

A boy with white hair was sobbing over a brunette boy in his arms. The white haired boy’s tears froze as they fell onto the blue skin of the boy in his lap. “Theo-” The Keeper approached the boy.

“Theo- he’s! He’s dead! He can’t be- Keeper please!” Leo shook his head, tearing his gaze up at her, coughing again as he breathed erratically.

The Keeper reared back in sheer shock, mouth agape but no words forming.  She examined their faces and her features softed. “Mýlion…” she spoke almost breathlessly. “Did you- you’re a… da’len, please, come here-“

“No! You have to save Theo!” Leo pulled Theo closer to his chest and he held onto him so tightly.

The elves outside overheard the whole conversation and shared it with the other's who were too far away.

“Mýlion is alive- he’s a… he’s a- a mage”


End file.
